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I was looking through yet another collection for Spring 09, now in Paris, when I cast a peripheral eye to The Sartorialist's men.style blog and realized that the men attending the shows were a shade more interesting than the shows themselves. It definitely helps that each has been framed by Sart's unerring eye.
Asian men, doing us proud.
I want this jacket so much I can taste it.
Very long weekend for me - concert tonight. Tuesday is a holiday. Enjoy.
Seeing these young fellows kick up a ruckus.
And for good measure, here's Radiohead, sure to be the subject of a future Style Influences. Look at them all pulling guitar faces (well, except for Phil, who is ever stoic.)
Using the terror alert colour system.
Drinking light beer. There is nothing good about light beer, especially when it's called "lite." Our taste buds are one thing - why do you have to assault the English language as well?
Wearing shorts that extend to mid-calf after you turn 25.
Frosting tips.
Thinking movies that feature relationships and emotions are "chick flicks."
Being for peace or the environment. Saying you are "pro" either is akin to saying you are pro-air, or pro-having enough to eat. In other words, meaningless. And before you tell me to recycle again, maybe learn a little thing or two about the recycling process.
Giving unsolicited opinions.
Talking about sports using war analogies - athletes are not "warriors" and the court is not a "battle zone."
Talking about women using car analogies.
Pouting. I don't know how it happened and I don't know why, but suddenly men everywhere are being whiny, silent-treatment giving assholes. I watched one guy storm out of a restaurant, his girlfriend trailing in his wake. When they got to the car park he threw his keys at her. They exchanged some words and then she walked back into the restaurant while he proceeded to walk over to this friends, who had come out at this point, to laugh and have a cigarette. My head almost exploded. If you were really this guy's friends you would have smacked him around until he promised not to be such a colossal douche.
Mitch Albom writing. Look Mitch, I liked Tuesdays With Morrie. I read it and I cried real, manly tears. But your next two books, the unforgivable The Five People You Meet in Heaven and the excruciating One More Day, make Tuesdays look like Catcher in the Rye by comparison. After ten pages of Five People I wanted to go outside and kill clouds, Mitch. Stop writing. Stop writing right now.
My latest effort for Everybody is Ugly can be found here. A sample:
First of all, unless you’ve just played a soccer game, or are dressed as a geisha for Hallowe’en, there is no reason for you to be wearing flip flops with socks.
Apparently in the Spring the well-dressed man will be wearing tuxedos, because that's what we'll be getting (all us well-dressed men that is) - tuxedo after tuxedo after tuxedo.
Dsquared²
If we do have to wear them they might as well look like this. I'm definitely liking the piping showing up on all the jackets.
Simple, clean, and classic.
Emporio Armani
Armani - you are definitely one of the last of the big name designers. That said, do we really need almost 100 looks from you, many of them the same version of the same coloured suit?
Lovely detail in the vest.
Welcome to the Spring '98 collection. Hope you enjoy your stay.
Etro
The Etro Fall Collection was my favourite from that season, so I expected great things from Spring. When the patterns are allowed free reign over the look the effect can be overwhelming, but peeking out from more restrained looks the bright flashes add a lovely touch. I can say lovely, right? Good.
Or as Tim Blanks put it,
There’s often been a tension in Kean’s collections between the riotous opulence of the colors and patterns and the somewhat uptight tailoring.
This is why Blanks writes for Vogue, and I write for me.
The aforementioned bright flashes.
And...too much.
Let's play again.
Just right.
And...not so right.
One thing I love about Etro is its use of older models, particularly this gentleman.
Calvin Klein
I always want to dislike Calvin Klein, born no doubt from some long-seeded prejudice, but I just can't. His clothes are too...nice to dislike, and usually too plain to kick up much of a fuss. You won't change the world in a Calvin Klein outfit, but you probably won't offend it either.
Case in point.
Perhaps I spoke too soon.
Costume National
I couldn't pick a look I didn't mind - this might be a little outside my comfort zone.
This is...terrible.
This is less bad.
She rightly pointed out this omission.
Reviews of the seemingly earlier and earlier Spring collections are trickling in, and I thought I'd add my two cents worth (this being, apparently, something of a men's fashion blog). Make sure to also check the two cents of Style Salvage, Male-Mode (on The Fashion Spot), and We Are The Market.
As is my wont, here are my favourite looks from each collection, followed by the look upon which I heap the most scorn. [All pictures courtesy of men.style.com]
Alessandro Dell'Acqua
A collection so plain that it seems not to have been designed, but rather assembled by slapping together various items from retail racks.
Not at all bad, if a little on the boring side.
Having lost his friends, Cardigan Man cut off his pants with a spoon and rushed to find them.
Alexander McQueen
It will take a lot of self-control not to add button flaps to my blazers.
Derek wondered if the other birds didn't like him because he couldn't grow feathers on his wings. The truth - it was his vampire hairdo.
Bottega Veneta
Basically what I wore to work the other day (minus the gorgeous bag and the matching shirt).
No man under 5',8" could wear this without looking like a formally dressed Teletubbie.
Alright, since I have the mind to do it, here is, finally, the meme for materfamilias.
For it I had to:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.
And now, from Luke Sullivan's Hey Whipple, Squeeze This:
Even if you have a normal-size budget, start with a clean slate. Empty the stage in your mind; dress it with just a ladder and a chair, like Thornton Wilder did in Our Town. This intellectual challenge of working with a small budget (or any constraint) is one of the best mental reset buttons there is.
I tag lc, dreamecho, lulu, enc, and the style salvage duo.
I still owe Materfamilias and Deja Pseu posts for two other blog memes. But I'm almost never around books when I think to blog--sorry Mater--and the haiku challenge is one that requires a litte more thought. So with much apologies I've decided to instead whip off the seven songs of summer meme sent by enc.
1. Guillemots - Trains to Brazil
For the rest of my life this will always be the first song of summer.
2. Exploding Hearts - Throwaway Style
Tragic story. Horrible video. Amazing song.
3. Magnet w/ Gemma Hayes - Lay Lady Lay
4. Missy Elliot - Work It
5. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give It Away
6. The Magnetic Fields - Nothing Matters When We're Dancing
I have no idea what this video is about. Youtube is strange.
7. Radiohead - Ceremony (New Order cover)
Yes, my dear friends. This is the promised land. The hour approaches when a lowly 'stache will be transformed into a glorious handlebar. To that end I have purchased the above product, which promises to condition and even mold my facial hair.
A week in the life of the stache (June 15-22, 2008):
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT
As of sometime last night/early this morning, I am the new guest editor of Everybody is Ugly, a fashion blog attached to the Chictopia site. My first contribution addresses the vital question of shopping for a suit. It's scintillating stuff! Go read!
